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Craving for a steamy bowl of hot noodle soup? This Beef Udon, my-go-to Japanese comfort dish is absolutely heart-warming. Tender sliced beef on top of slippery warm udon noodle in a savory broth. What’s not to love?
When we visited Takayama in Japan this past summer, we enjoyed this warm beef udon noodle soup with Hida beef. This comfort dish is made of warm udon noodles in a savory hot soup, topped with thinly sliced beef seasoned and stir fried. Today we’re going to recreate this Beef Udon recipe back in our own kitchen.
Watch How To Make Beef Udon 肉うどんの作り方
Beef udon (Niku Udon) is a Japanese comfort dish made of tender sliced beef seasoned and stir fried on top of warm udon noodle in a savory dashi broth.
Easy Beef Udon Packed with Flavors
Despite its simplicity, this beef udon recipe is packed with tons of flavors! The savory dashi broth, well-seasoned beef, caramelized scallion and chewy smooth noodles – that’s all you really need for a well-composed bowl of noodle soup.
The best part of this recipe (besides it is so delicious!!!) is how easy it is to make at home. We use only basic condiments in most Japanese cooking – soy sauce, mirin, sake – and udon noodles. You can find these condiments at Japanese or Asian grocery stores (and some American grocery stores).
Use Japanese Soup Stock ‘Dashi’ To Make Your Broth for Beef Udon
For the most flavorful broth for your udon, you will need to make Japanese soup stock known as dashi to complete this dish. I have a complete guide on how to make dashi at home. The easiest way is to make a big batch so you can use your homemade dashi for this udon soup recipe. The broth will taste much better and you would want to drink up the entire beef udon soup!
If dashi sounds foreign to you, don’t feel intimidated. You can always take a short cut and use dashi powder or dashi packet instead (which takes 5 minutes. See how we use it). Dashi is much easier to make compared to vegetable or chicken/beef stock and it takes less than 30 minutes to make the broth from scratch.
Watch How to Make Dashi だしの作り方
Quick and savory homemade dashi with kombu (seaweed) and bonito flakes.
Fresh Udon for Best Texture
Since it’s such a simple dish, fresh udon would taste the best for the noodle soup. But I know fresh udon is not always easily accessible. The second option would be the frozen type. You can find them available at Japanese and many Asian grocery stores, and sometimes at American grocery stores if you are lucky. Other, dried noodles would work fine.
Wish to learn more about Udon Noodles? Click here.
Hungry for More Udon Noodle Recipes?
Don’t miss out these delicious recipes with udon noodles:
- Yaki Udon (Stir-Fried Udon Noodle)
- Curry Udon
- Nabeyaki Udon (Hot Pot Style Udon Noodle Served in Donabe)
- Kitsune Udon
I hope you enjoy making Beef Udon! If you try it, don’t forget to share your picture on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter with #JustOneCookbook. Thank you so much for reading, and till next time!
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- 1 Tbsp neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, canola, etc)
- ½ negi (long green onion) (Sub: ½ leek or 2 scallions/green onions)
- ½ lb thinly sliced beef (chuck or rib eye) (227 g) (ribeye or top sirloin)
- 2 servings udon noodles (180 g dry udon noodles; 500 g frozen/boiled udon noodles)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- ½-1 Tbsp sugar
- 2 cups dashi (Japanese soup stock; click to learn more) (480 ml)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp mirin
- 1 tsp sugar
- pinch kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt)
- narutomaki (fish cakes) (few slices)
- 3 sprigs mitsuba (Japanese parsley) (Optional)
- 1 green onion/scallion
- shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice) (for taste)
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Gather all the ingredients.
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In a small saucepan, add 2 cups (480 ml) dashi and 1 tsp sugar.
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Add 1 Tbsp mirin and 1 Tbsp soy sauce and bring it to a boil.
- Taste the soup and adjust the taste with Kosher salt as it will enhance the flavor without adding additional sugar or soy sauce. Cover and keep it on low heat.
- Cut the Tokyo negi (or use sub) and Narutomaki (fish cake) diagonally.
- Cut the Mitsuba (optional) into small pieces and thinly slice one onion/scallion (used for topping).
- Cut the thinly sliced meat into bite size pieces.
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Bring a large pot of water to boil for udon noodles. My favorite udon is the frozen Sanuki Udon. Cook the frozen udon noodles in boiling water for 1 minute (no need to defrost). If you use dry noodles, follow the package instructions.
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Once the udon is done cooking, drain water and transfer to serving bowls.
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While cooking udon, you can start heating the large frying pan. Once it’s heated, add 1 Tbsp vegetable oil and cook the Negi until tender.
- Add the meat and brown all sides. Don’t move the meat around until it’s nicely seared.
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Once the meat is nicely browned, add ½ to 1 Tbsp sugar and 1 Tbsp soy sauce. When the sauce has caramelized and slightly thicken, turn off the heat.
- By this time, the noodle should be in the serving bowls. Pour the hot soup over the udon noodles in the bowls. Then serve the meat on top of the udon noodles.
- Place the narutomaki (fish cake) and garnish with scallion and mitsuba. If you like it spicy, sprinkle Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese 7 spice). Enjoy!
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
I love udon soups so much! Since it’s getting cold at night here in NM, this is perfect! I’ll be making it this week! As always, Nami, thank you for the great recipe.
Hi Madeline! It’s my pleasure and thanks so much for reading my blog post! It’s getting colder here in California too, so I’ll be making this more often. 🙂 Hope you enjoy the recipe! xo
Thank you for the recipe, I love your blog! I just had a couple of questions, does udon soup reheat well for lunches? Can you use shabu shabu meat or sukiyaki meat? Also is there a particular brand of udon noodles that you recommend?
Thank you again so much!
Anne
Hi Anne! Thank you so much for reading my blog! Sure, you can reheat the udon soup. But when do you cook it? Like previous night? I use Shabu shabu meat (in this recipe). Yes! I do love Sanukiya Udon (frozen udon). Sanuki udon is thick and chewy and it’s my favorite! MUCH better than refrigerated udon noodles. Since you asked about shabu shabu or sukiyaki meat, I assume you have good Japanese supermarket. They should have these frozen udon…. 🙂
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/udon/
Hi there,
My daughter just loved the beef udon for dinner! The next day I made it for her lunch & cooked the meat that morning. I live in Millbrae so I usually shop for Japanese food in San Mateo…next time I will buy that brand of udon noodles. Thank you again!
Just made this for my udon crazy kids and they loved it! Thanks so much for posting this delicious recipe. Keep up the great work!
Hi Ai! I’m happy to hear your children enjoyed it! My daughter is crazy about udon too. 🙂 Thank you very much for your kind words!
I have made this two times now. This time I added some bok choi to the boiling dashi. Both times I have substituted soba for udon noodles. However it tastes great. Definitely comfort food. I suspect the thick, chewiness of the udon would make it even more a comfort food, so perhaps I will try that next time. Love your recipes. Thanks for sharing them.
Hi Kathy! Soba works too! I hope you try with udon next time! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and leaving the kind feedback. 🙂
Hi Nami,
Is it possible to substitute the beef with pork? Sliced beef is super pricey here.. T____T
Hi Reen! Sure you can do that! 🙂
This recipe was simple and tasted great! I followed the recipe to the letter and my family commented that it was as good as restaurant-made 肉うどん！
Hi Micah! Thank you for trying this recipe and I’m happy to hear you and your family enjoyed it! Arigato!! 🙂
Hi Nami. This is a cyber hug thank you. I love your site. Take care.
Hi Eric! Awww thank you!!! I’m so happy to hear you like my site. Thank you for your support! xoxo
Hi, Nami. Thank you for amazing recipe.
Recently I go to Asian supermarket and remember your beef udon recipe. I got almost everything on the recipe. What I want to ask :
1. Do we have to boil the narutomaki before serving?
2. I skip sake and mirin, is it affect extremely with the flavour? Is there something replace them without containing alcohol?
PS. Sorry for asking so much XD
Hi Anisa! Here are my answers:
1) Naruto is actually cooked (steamed) already, so it’s now “raw”. Therefore, you can eat it out of the package. Usually it’s not warmed up when it’s served, but it’s on top of the warm noodles, then it naturally warms up. If it’s on cold noodle dish, it’s still cold. 😉
2) I have to say sake and mirin are one of the most important condiments besides soy sauce and miso in Japanese cooking. Almost all recipes use them (or one of them), and I have to say they make a difference so we use them all the time in our cooking. IF you can’t drink alcohol due to religious reasons, I understand and we have to go without it, but if it’s not, I highly recommend to use it so your food is close to authentic Japanese foods. If you have to skip alcohol, then add water + sugar instead for mirin in the recipe. It should be 1 Tbsp. water + 1 tsp. sugar. Details here:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/mirin/
Hope this helps!
Hi Nami,
Can you clarify the Tokyo Negi? On the ingredient list you say that Tokyo Negi and Green Onion are the same. But in step 4 &9 and 5 & 13 you distinguish them. I’m trying to find information about Tokyo Negi online but can’t find anything. Are the two the same thing? If so, how much am I suppose to use on each step? If not, are there any other names for Tokyo Negi?
Thank you,
Robin
Hi Robin! Tokyo negi is fresh produce, so I think it’ll be hard to find online unless it’s from a local farm etc… Tokyo negi might be called long negi (“Naga Negi”) or white negi (“Shiro Negi”).
I edited my steps in the recipe and I hope this time it makes sense. Tokyo negi (or substitute) is sauted (it gives sweetness to the soup) and Mitsuba and one scallion/green onion are used as garnish.
Hope it’s clear now. Thank you for asking!
Hi Nami,
Just tried this wonderful recipe tonight using bottled dashi. Got a rave review from my husband. He used to order tempura udon all the time but this beef udon is just as delicious and it is super easy to make thanks to you, Nami san. I would recommend all the novice cooks out there to try making this dish. This is a true no fail recipe.
Arigato Gozaimasu,
With love from Thailand
Hi Natcha! I’m so happy to hear that your husband enjoyed this recipe! It’s a lot easier than tempura udon. 😉 Thank you for your kind feedback!
Thank you so much for this recipe!! I made this tonight for my father in law. He’s currently undergoing treatment for his cancer and so doesn’t have much of an appetite. His favorite food is udon and he’s been missing his favorite udon restaurant, Marukame Udon in Hawaii. I surprised him with homemade udon tonight using your recipe and he LOVED it. He ate an entire bowlful! He said it’s even better than Marukame Udon. Lol! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe so that I could make my father in law this special treat. It really made his day. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Hi Youngmi! I’m so happy to hear you tried this recipe and your father in law enjoyed it. Your kind feedback meant so much to me. Wishing your father in law the best. xo
I’m constantly using this website for recipes – my husband is Japanese and prefers Japanese food overall, and every recipe I follow gets an enthusiastic “うまい！” so thank you for that!
I just wanted to say, I’ve tried this recipe with both light and dark soy sauce, and I’m of the opinion that the dark suits the meat better. My husband’s kansai taste disagrees, but to each his own!
Hi NumaKuri! Thank you so much for your kind feedback on dark soy sauce and I really appreciate it. I’m happy to hear your Japanese husband enjoy the recipes too. 🙂 ありがとう！
Made this today. It was so good. Third JOC recipe that I’ve tried and they’ve all been a hit in this Jamaican household. Also made Yakisoba and Mille-Feuille Nabe. Thanks Nami.
Hi Rochelle! I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe! I’m super excited to hear that you’re cooking Japanese food at Jamaican household. 😀 Thank you for your kind feedback. xoxo
Hi, made this soup last time,it was delicious.I’m going to make it tonight.Thanks for your easy to make receipes.Arigato
Hi Ramon! Thank you for trying this recipe! I’m so happy to hear you liked the recipe. Hope you enjoyed it tonight as well. 🙂
I made my own Dashi as suggested~ luckily there is a small Asian market near me! Wow this tastes just like the Niku udon I had and loved in Japan!! Actually it tastes so much better made by hand I am just so happy. I used green onion which was fine although I recommend adding some honey to the meat~ makes it sweeter! I made just one serving of noodles and only put half in. I’ll save the rest of the meat and soup for tomorrow! Thanks so much!!
Hi Katie! I’m so happy you tried this recipe with homemade dashi! You can’t achieve the delicious broth with instant dashi powder. Simple noodle soup dishes like this require good broth. 🙂 Thank you for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
Hello,
I just made this for my mom and sister and it was incredible! The soup broth was especially delicious. The concentrated awasi dashi combined with the other ingredients made it incredibly savory. Thanks so much for posting this!
– Collin
Hi Collin! Thank you so much for trying my recipe! I’m so happy to hear your mom and sister enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! It was so tasty and so easy. I meal-prepped it for the week by doubling the recipe, then just heating the broth and beef and adding frozen udon noodles every night. I really enjoyed it with some napa cabbage and firm tofu cubes too. It’s perfect for this colder weather!
Hi Stefanie! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe throughout the week. Thank you for your kind feedback. xo
Hello Nami! If I cant find any Narutomaki or Dashi at any markets, what should I do? Is there anything that can be used instead? Thanks!
Hi Julian! Narutomaki can be hard to find if you don’t have a Japanese grocery store. You can skip and add something else for a bright color. If you can find “Kamaboko” (another type of fish cake which is more common), you can use it too.
Now dashi is different. It’s not something you can “buy” unless it’s dashi powder in box/jar or dashi packets. Check out this post to decide which method you like to use: https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-make-dashi-3-ways/
Hope that helps!
Hi! I’m excited to make this in a few days for a party. I just have one question: what kind of soy sauce do you use in this recipe for the beef and broth? I know there’s different kinds of soy sauce so I just want to be sure.
Thank you.
Hi Diana! I’m so sorry for my late response. My soy sauce is Japanese soy sauce – we don’t have “dark” or “light” soy sauce like Chinese soy sauce. 🙂
We have light-colored soy sauce, though. But it’s only used for making soup or making dishes that you don’t want the food to have a dark color. 🙂
https://www.justonecookbook.com/soy-sauce/
Hi Nami, thanks for your wonderful recipes that I love, but recently I’m pregnant & realise I probably should stop using Mirin or sake unless it’s in tiny quantities (like half teaspoon?). I’ve read that alcohol does not completely burn off in cooking & it will be present in the marinades you teach us, so just wondering on your opinion on these usage when you were pregnant? Did you continue to use them? As you said, Mirin esp is such a key ingredient in jap cooking! Thanks!
Hi Lanny! In Japan, it’s considered okay to use sake and mirin in cooking during pregnancy. Small amount of alcohol used in recipes (most of the Japanese recipes) evaporates before the liquid reaches 100C, which means most of the cooked food should not trace any alcohol. I don’t know if there is a dish that requires a lot of alcohol at this moment, but several tablespoons of sake or mirin are not considered a problem in Japan. However, it is recommended to cook sake and mirin if it’s called for non-cooked food, such as dressing or vinaigrette sauce for Cucumber Salad. If you see a recipe that requires sake/mirin, and not cooked at all, just pour them in a pot first. Cook until alcohol smell is gone (not harmful to smell the steam – just check a few times).
I’m not sure where you live but here in the US, 1 glass of wine is considered okay for pregnancy. I don’t drink alcohol in general so I wasn’t drinking during my pregnancy, but I was cooking my regular meal with sake and mirin during my pregnancy. And this method is same for cooking for young or big kids. Just don’t use non-cooked sake/mirin for them.
Hope that helps!
Hi Nami, thanks so much for your detailed response to my concerns about alcohol in sake/mirin, i really appreciate it. I definitely will take your advice about cooking them before use. I certainly didn’t want to stop using your wonderful recipes! Cheers, Lanny
Have a wonderful pregnancy, Lanny! I miss carrying a baby! 🙂 xo
Oh my goodness this was so delicious. I had to substitue some stuff but it still turned out so good and my mom loved it too.
Thank you nami for such a delicious recipe.
Hi Sara! Wonderful! I’m happy to hear your mom enjoyed it too. 🙂 Thank you for your kind feedback, Sara!
This is amazing! I love undons and this is a simple meal but it lets you feel very satisfied after you finish the meal.. Thanks again!
Hi Daphne! I’m so glad you like it and thank you for trying my recipe! xoxo
Hi, Nami! Thanks for this recipe. I love beef udon and I almost always order it at Japanese restaurants. However, I didn’t like the fact that the beef is almost always fatty and I would have a hard time removing the fat. Now that I have this recipe, I can enjoy my beef udon without having to go through so much trouble. 😊
Hi Ashlyn! That’s true, that’s the best part about cooking at home. You can make it with really good dashi and high-quality beef! Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Hi Nami,
Thanks for sharing your recipe! It was simple to prepare for my family. May I ask what do you do with the beef sauce after stir-fry? Do you pour it into the udon soup? Thanks!
Hi Cheryl! Yes, I put in the udon soup! I’m so glad it was easy to make for your family! 🙂
Hi Nami.
I made this for supper tonight (and made the dashi . using your recipe and some kombu and bonito flakes I had in my pantry. I was a bit scared because, while I’ve probably had dashi before at a Japanese restaurant, I’ve never actually made it or seen what goes in it. These ingredients are outside my comfort zone. That being said, our meal was delicious and I’m so glad I soldiered on.
Thanks,
Lesley
Hi Lesley! You made me very happy and thank you so much for trying this recipe including homemade dashi! It makes a huge difference compared to the convenient “dashi powder” and I always encourage people to make your own dashi. You can keep it for a week in the fridge, and you can use whatever left to make a bowl of miso soup. I hope it was easier enough for you to make again for other Japanese recipes! 😉 I think it’s MUCH easier than making chicken or vegetable stock. 🙂 Thank you again for your kind feedback!
Hi,
You stated to use Dashi and link it back to your how to make dashi page however, you do not state which dashi to use?
Hi Shan! Because choosing which type of dashi is really up to you. In most of my recipes, I use Awase Dashi (https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-make-dashi/). It’s the most basic, but depending on where you grow up, your “basic” dashi could be different. And if you’re vegan/vegetarian, you can only use kombu dashi (but I know you’re making beef udon, so this may not be your choice). 🙂
the easiest and best way to make udon!
Hi Kai! Yes, I totally agree! 🙂
May I get recipe to make homemade udon ?
Thanks before.enda
Hi Enda! Here it is: https://www.justonecookbook.com/udon-noodles/ Hope you enjoy!
This was super easy to make and so tasty! Love the broth!
Hi Karen! Thank you so much for your kind feedback! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Just made this for the family tonight. It taste exactly like the one we had in Japan. Lived there 20 yrs and moved out last yr. Your recipe has been my rock when I miss Japan Nami san! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Idelia! Aww thank you so much! I’m so happy to hear your family enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
I love Japanese food, not the raw ones.
Looks simple to follow. Will definitely try cooking.
Hi Angie! Thank you! I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Hi if I’m using dashi powder how much do I use as opposed to using 2 cups in liquid form?
Hi Sarah! It depends on dashi powder, but for this particular brand, I use 1 tsp.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/dashi-powder/
Thanks for the awesome recipes 🙂 My whole family loving it…thanks for sharing and love ur blog so much…
Hi Jasmine! I’m so happy to hear your whole family enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
My wife and I went to Japan for our honeymoon and fell in love with the food. We loved this recipe so much… simple and delicious. It was perfect and reminded us so much of our food adventures in Japan. Thank you for your blog!
Hi Kevin,
Aww. Thank you so much for trying this recipe and for sharing your story with us. We are so happy to hear you and your wife enjoy this Niku Udon and reminded of your sweet time in Japan!
So first of all, thank you for the recipe! I’ve wanted to try home-cooking udon since trying some in Melbourne some years ago and loving it ever since, and this site in general made it very easy (I literally just up and bought ingredients and made it one day on a whim, and it wasn’t even that expensive)
That said, I had something of an interesting experience; the first time I tried it out with just a single serve for myself, I left the broth uncovered and a lot of it boiled off (it spent a lot of time in the stage just before boiling over, and I think most of it went then). I used the full amounts for two servings and wasn’t even left with enough to cover one serve of noodles!
However, the broth was really tasty and I figured I just needed to keep it from escaping into the air and maybe boil it faster by starting at a higher heat. I did this when preparing the broth for two people (using amounts for four servings, setting the stovetop to high immediately, and covering the broth with a lid as much as possible) and got the right amount of liquid, however it was nowhere near as flavorful and generally tasted watered down.
I’m partly ascribing this to only half the dashi being refrigerated overnight (I used combination kombu/shiitake dashi made by placing both ingredients in the water at once, and the other half was made using the 15 minute warm water method due to a time crunch), and I suspect it’s also partly due to less of the broth boiling off (I imagine that’s mostly water, leaving you with more concentrated soup base)…but I’m sure there are a lot of factors I’m not aware of that influenced the result as well. It was literally my second time making it, after all, and I’m something of a novice at cooking in general so there’s probably super basic kitchen understanding that I’m just straight up missing.
Sadly, I live in Australia and it’s getting warmer over here, so hot noodle soup isn’t really an appropriate dish any longer. So basically what I wanted to ask is: How can I get that more concentrated, rich taste while still making enough broth for the dish? Or more generally, do you have any broad advice on how I should alter the broth-making process?
Thanks again, finding this website has been a huge boon for me. I’m looking forward to trying out some of the other stuff!
Hi DC,
Thank you for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback. We’re happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe!
As for your question, once you made the soup stock, you have to keep it covered (Step 4: Cover and keep it on low heat.). If you are taking the time to cook the rest of the ingredients or not serving immediately, we recommend to turn off the heat. Please note that this recipe is written assuming that you would serve immediately after cooking.
You don’t want to lose your broth that you work hard to get! 😉
As for broth amount and flavor, no need to reduce the broth in this recipe, which is not counted for the ingredients. If you prefer a more robust flavor (more concentrated), make stronger dashi and slightly increase the condiments. However, you don’t want to overwhelm the broth with condiments, so don’t increase the condiments only. Dashi in noodle soup is very important!
You may enjoy this cold udon noodles in the summertime: https://www.justonecookbook.com/cold-tanuki-udon/
I hope this is helpful and you will enjoy udon all year around!😊
I have made this once and I’m making it again today. I live in Toronto, Canada so I am very lucky be in such a multicultural city where these ingredients aren’t hard to find – even at the big supermarkets. I’ve also shared this recipe with two colleagues already. It’s so delicious and makes me so proud of myself that I want to cry sometimes. Lol. Thank you!
Hi Sriracha!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback.
We are so happy to hear you were able to find all the ingredients and enjoyed this Beef Udon in Toronto, Canada!
We hope your colleagues also enjoy this recipe.☺️